21st Century Literature discussion

This thread is for discussing Part One of Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi. Spoilers for Part One are welcome and please keep any Parts Two and Three spoilers for the whole book thread!

In Part One, we meet Boy Novak who escapes her home and rat catcher father in Manhattan to find a new life in Flax Hill, MA. There, she meets Arturo Whitman and his daughter, Snow.

What do you think of Oyeyemi's take on the story of Snow White so far? Do you like the magical/fairy tale elements that pop up here and there? Does Boy fit the description of the wicked stepmother?

What roll do you think mirrors play in the story? What about identity? Vanity and beauty? Race?

Towards the end of Part One, Bird is born and we learn that the Whitmans are a light skinned African American family. Were you surprised to learn this? What do you think about the decision to send Aunt Clara away when she was young? What about Arturo's family's treatment of Bird? Of Boy's decision to send Snow away?

I am very puzzled as to what to think about mirrors, and whether they really have a role in the story. They are talked about enough that they must mean something, but I can't tell what yet. (I have finished part one.) I was very intrigued by the opening line, that no one "warned" Boy about mirrors. Later on, as Boy is walking, she encounters a woman who is bleeding, who seems to be something like a mirror image of Boy, but Boy flees the scene and we never really get an explanation of that, either.

Mirrors show at the same time the same image and the opposite image. The play on the mirror image suggests perhaps we are reading the same story, i.e., snow white, and yet one told from the opposite point of view, i.e., from the villain. It is interesting that dichotimies are drawn throughout the first couple of chapters, rich vs. poor, blonds vs. brunettes, new yorkers vs. Boy's new home city. I imagine the mirror image reflect the dichotimies.

I agree that, for Boy, mirrors don't hold a traditional meaning or purpose. She discusses in Chapter 2 I think how Whitman mistakes her staring at her own reflections as vanity. She explains that it is something else.

The story, at least in the first few chapter feels elusive, but pleasantly so. I know that there is something there but I haven't found it yet. I suspect it will pay off soon.

I am also pleased at how well the interactions between the characters are written. The complexity and subtlty shows a real handle on the writing craft. I really wished that I had taken more time with the language 5o enjoy it more.

This is my first book by Oyeyemi. Has anyone read her other books? The reviews that I've read say that she uses mirror imagery in her other books. I'm wondering if we can understand more of her meaning from other uses.

I haven't read any of her other works but would be interested to do so now after finishing this one.

The mirrors come up again in the next sections too so I will be curious if any of you view them differently once you've read more.

Mike, I like your take on them and think this works well in the second half of the book.

I also wonder if mirrors feed into the idea of identity and how each character either sees themselves or one another.

Mike wrote: "Mirrors show at the same time the same image and the opposite image. The play on the mirror image suggests perhaps we are reading the same story, i.e., snow white, and yet one told from the opposit..."

Mike, I really like your comment. It means more to me now that I have read a significant amount of Part Two. But this is the wrong thread to discuss that.

I'm thinking that the mirror significance goes even deeper than the fairy tale correlation. Perhaps Oyeyemi is suggesting parallel worlds or experiences

I feel a little conflicted about my feelings toward Boy. Is she supposed to be a sympathetic character?

I feel like she's is ambivalent about the other characters in the book, almost going through the motions. She kind of reminds me of a poor man's (woman's?) Daisy from The Great Gatsby, somewhat clueless and aloof.

Am I to anticipate her descent into wicked witchdom or is the author going to show us that we have the story all wrong?

I find Boy's walk among the trees very eerie. Her double seems to be the character I want her to be. Is this the point?

I've finished the book, and I still haven't decided whether Boy was supposed to be a sympathetic character.

From chapter 12:

"Mirrors see so much. They could help us if they wanted to. In those days I spoke to every mirror in the apartment. I questioned them, told them I didn't know what to do, but none of them answered me. The girl in the glass exaggerated my expression, her gaze zigzagging as though watching a waterfall. She was making fun of me for sure, but I decided not to take it personally."

First off, I didn't know this was a retelling (of any sort) of Snow White... Given that little puzzle piece, the mirror takes on a different reflection for me. We've got Boy who has it drilled into her that she's ugly and revolting by the Rat Catcher (he gets my vote for Father of the Year!). So the mirror must always be like a chance to test this view, holding both the possibility of revealing a true beauty or verifying the harsh "truth" she's been told. By questioning the mirror, she seems to hope her reflection will have some answers (or, at least, show her something she can't see looking directly at things). The mirror seems a bit like a trap... like something one could get lost in (thinking here of Borges's fear of mirrors -- the multiplying of the self and the possibility of an other reality). More on the magic mirror from Snow White here..

Just finished section 1, so I'm sure the rest of the book will change my views, but great discussion so far. I wonder if Boy's "frigidness" (as she describes it) makes it hard to find her sympathetic...

Marc, thanks for sharing more about the mirrors from Snow White. I really like your comment. There are a few scenes from Part Two involving mirrors where I think what you say about the "true" image appearing in mirror may come into play again.

I liked Boy in Part One, liked her less in Part Two, and wanted to like her again at the end of the book. She might not be the most sympathetic character but she's had a tough upbringing and manages to escape and make a new life for herself.

Just a thought. The mirror in Snow White, at least in the iterations I have seen, does not show the reflection of the queen but is another character altogether. For example, the mirror in the popular Disney version has something akin to a Grecian tragedy mask. Would it be a stretch to think that the image in the mirrors addressed in the book are not Boy at all but this other thing? And if so, what is it?

The revelation of Arturo's family history and race has put into focus the novel and sheds light on the mirror imagery. I have already started Part Two of the book, and, based on the observations of Bird, the mirror appears to more about racial/identity confusion.

I questioned whether Boy was a sympathetic character in earlier post. I think perhaps she may be. Although a part of me understands that sending Snow away was cruel, I applaud her the sense of social justice she aims for. She causes the confrontation with everyone regarding what it means to be "black" or "white". To that end, I think she is a very sympathetic character.

Mike, I'm not sure I understand your last comment. Do you think that sending Snow away was aimed at social justice in some way?

I think there is something to it in light of the shift in the story at the end of part one. The fact that Snow had more Caucasian features as compared to Bird's colored ones and the fact that Boy shows some sympathy for Clara's being sent away. Also in the mix is the rest of the Whitman's doting affection for Snow and how this grates on Boy. I think the motivation is present to teach the Whitman's that their views on race and identity are mistaken. It almost appears to be a social experiment, an colored child living among whites and vice versa.

I can see that. I hadn't really considered the situation from that angle. It could be that Boy thought sending Snow away was good because otherwise Bird would suffer from constant comparisons, particularly by the grandmother, who doted on Snow but wanted nothing to do with Bird. There is a lot in this book that is open to interpretation.

I agree with you that the mirror aspect seems to be about identity confusion. That becomes much more clear in part three.

Finished part one yesterday, and although it has been a very enjoyable read so far, it didn't leave me wanting to comment on one section in isolation.

Hugh wrote: "Finished part one yesterday, and although it has been a very enjoyable read so far, it didn't leave me wanting to comment on one section in isolation." I get that completely. Initially, I thought it would be interesting to read people's perspectives of Boy in the first half, then realized later that it's very hard to speak about the themes in Part One without comparing and contrasting it with what pops up in the rest of the book.

It is one of those books which is full of ingenious surprises and plot twists, and if I had written more about the first section I would be wanting to change it by now.